Commemorating five years of innovative changes to the sport’s environmental footprint, the event examined the substantive initiatives that have helped make NASCAR the sports sustainability leader.

Among those who addressed summit attendees were: Former Vice President of the United States & Chairman of The Climate Reality Project Al Gore; Retired U.S. Army General Wesley K. Clark; U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Richter; Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) Lead Scientist Allen Hershkowitz; Deputy Undersecretary for Science and Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy Dr. Michael Knotek; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Senior Policy Counsel in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Matt Bogoshian.

Founded on NASCAR Chairman & CEO Brian France’s vision, NASCAR Green has grown exponentially into one of the most powerful environmental awareness platforms in the country. NASCAR owns the largest recycling, tree planting and renewable energy programs in all of sports. It also put nearly five million competition miles on Sunoco Green E15, a biofuel blended with 15 percent American-made ethanol made from American-grown corn.

Importantly, these efforts are aligned with NASCAR fan values and behaviors. According to a 2013 study commissioned by NASCAR and conducted by Toluna, NASCAR fans are approximately twice as likely as non-fans to indicate their household is very green — always looking for new ways to positively impact the environment.

“We take an enormous amount of pride in the collective effort that has been put forth across our entire industry to positively impact the environment over the last half decade,” said France. “It’s our mission to pass along a cleaner and healthier environment for generations to come by championing sustainable behavior to our millions of fans.”

The 2013 NASCAR Green Summit delivered by UPS recognized a number of Official NASCAR Partners that continue to push the bar in driving sustainable behavior. The program included executives from some of the world’s most influential brands, such as Coca-Cola, Ford Motor Company, Eaton, General Motors, Liberty Tire, Safety-Kleen, Sprint, Sunoco, Toyota and presenting partner UPS.

Also today, NASCAR formally announced it will enter into strategic collaborations with the Department of Energy and the NRDC.

· NASCAR and the DOE will collaborate on advancing the adoption of clean energy technologies. Specifically, NASCAR has deployed Eaton EV charging stations for employee use at its corporate office locations in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Concord, N.C., with plans to install another station in Charlotte, N.C., by the end of the year. Additionally, the DOE and NASCAR will collaborate to identify partnership opportunities, which may include universities, national laboratories, and private sector companies for the purpose of conducting clean energy and auto-related research.

· NASCAR and the NRDC will collaborate on several initiatives in the areas of energy usage, waste management and food consumption. Specifically, NASCAR and NRDC will work to promote energy efficiency at NASCAR-sanctioned racing facilities as well as NASCAR corporate facilities. The two entities will also work together to educate NASCAR fans about the benefits of renewable energy and promote healthy food options in collaboration with concessionaires at NASCAR-sanctioned racing facilities.

“Dedication, innovative thought and a shared vision to better the environment has led to NASCAR entering into two separate Memorandums of Understanding with the DOE and NRDC,” said Dr. Michael Lynch, NASCAR Managing Director of Green Innovation. “These new alliances demonstrate NASCAR’s commitment to driving sustainable behavior amongst our fans.”

SPEEDSPORT.com is America's Trusted Motorsports Authority. Since 1934, SPEED SPORT has been the destination for all things motorsports news...from NASCAR to Formula 1, Sprint Cars to Top Fuel dragsters, Supercross to Superbikes.